Border guards in Bangladesh have intercepted 11 boats carrying 130 Rohingya nationals trying to cross the border through different points at Ukhia, Teknaf and Bandarban.
Patrol teams of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) spotted the boats at the zero points in Ukhia’s Balukhali and Thaingkali, Naf River in Cox’s Bazar and Bandarban’s Ghumdhum border on early Thursday. Cox’s Bazar-based BGB 34 Battalion chief Lt Col Imran Ullah Sarkar said 19 Rohingyas were pushed back from Ukhiya and Ghumdhum. Eleven boats were sent back to Myanmar from different points of the Naf River, said Teknaf-based BGB 2 Battalion’s Maj Abu Rasel Siddiqui. There were 11 boats in total, each carrying 10 to 12 refugees, he said. The Myanmar army started a crackdown against the minority Rohingyas in Rakhine state after nine police officers were killed in three police outposts along the Myanmar-Bangladesh border on Oct 9.
Hundreds of Rohingya Muslims are trying to cross the border into Bangladesh amid the escalating violence.
The BGB claims that a total 80 boats carrying Rohingyas have been sent back in to Myanmar since Nov 1.
However, different local and international media have reported that a large number of Rohingya refugees including women and children have entered Bangladesh via different routes.
